Bee Up Front and Serious

Capital Punishment - For or Against?

2011-12-11T20:25:00.000-08:00

This post is not pretty.

I am tired, so tired of the crime in this country.

Less than a week of the Sate of Emergency being lifted, I learned from the tv news this evening that the husband of a friend of mine was murdered in his own home yesterday in broad daylight. The rest of the family were tied up and beaten. I'm not an advocate of capital punishment but I am seriously beginning to wonder if I have the right attitude. Add to that another couple I know well who live in the same area, being attacked by intruders whilst sleeping at 2am even though the downstairs of their home is burglar proofed. I have attended too many funerals of people I know who have lost their lives brutally and some I couldn't attend because it was too overwhelming.

God help this country where life has become so cheap, where we allow criminals to rule and literally get away with murder, where school children carry knives, where innocent people are losing their lives, where people believe the world owes them a living so take instead of earn, where corruption is rife, where we live behind barbed wire, burglar bars and gated communities with guards at the gates, where rapes are every day occurrences, where one doesn't feel safe in an open car park and where people who care and those who are affected are crying for justice and getting no answers,

Bee's Blog: Part of my Job

2011-10-31T10:18:00.000-07:00

Bee's Blog: Part of my Job: EVANGELIZATION FIRST ‘A NEW WAY AHEAD’ On the 10 September 2011. 88 volunteers of the Evangelization Commission gathered under a...

Repost of Simone Leid - The WomenSpeak Project

2011-10-27T16:13:00.000-07:00

October 27th, 2011 at 12:21AM

OUTRAGED! Rape of a Child is NOT Entertainment!

On 25th October, 2011, the local television program “Crime Watch” which airs on TV6 at 6pm in Trinidad and Tobago, aired video footage of a 13 year old girl being beaten and raped. The host of Crime Watch, also had the child’s mother on set and asked her questions about how she felt on hearing the cries of her daughter as she is being raped by several men on the video.
I cannot sit idly by and merely shake my head at this abomination. That the rape of a child is aired on a television show that is notorious for sensationalizing, and packaging criminal activity and trauma of victims as entertainment, signals that we have reached an all new level of barbarianism.
In a country where the cries of a child being raped can be aired at prime time, and then again at night, and again the next day, and again the next night - is it any wonder that we are a country whose rates of murder of women by domestic partners and rape are amongst the highest in the world?
For if we can reduce someone to a sound-bite, a headline, a statistic, then it becomes easier for us to forget they are human beings. They become ‘the other’, ‘a number’, ‘not one of us’. And when we are fed violence as entertainment, we become desensitized to the chopping, the burning, the raping. Suddenly a woman who is ‘just’ battered is no big deal.
WomenSpeak was created to give these ‘statistics’ a human face. To give women the opportunity to tell their stories of abuse, harassment, discrimination, in their own words. To encourage every man and woman in the region to take responsibility for sharing the message that discrimination against women is a disease that is rotting us from the inside out. That we stand as Caribbean men and women, boys and girls who believe in the dignity of all human beings. And we DEMAND higher standards of decency, empathy and justice for women and girls.
We each have a voice. Let us use it. If we are fed up of the exploitation, denigration and dehumanization of our women, men and children, please exercise your conscience and let the Telecommunication Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, Crime Watch and TV6 and its affiliates know what you think of it’s degrading ratings ploys; of this violence perpetrated by the local media upon it’s citizens.
CALL.WRITE.SPEAK OUT.REPOST.RETWEET.
For my part, I want Crime Watch OFF THE AIR. PERIOD.
Below are contact numbers and links

Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (click link for complaint form)
#5 Eighth Avenue Extension, Off Twelfth Street, Barataria, Trinidad and Tobago.
Phone : 1-868-675-8288
TV6
35 Independence Square , Port of Spain, Trinidad, WI
Telephone 1-868-627-8806
Trinidad Express Newspapers
35-37 Independence Square, Port of Spain, Trinidad, WI
1-868-623-1711/8
Hott 93 Office
#5 Rosalino Street, Woodbrook
Port Of Spain, Trinidad, W.I.
Phone: (868).625.8426, (868).623.7605
Fax: (868).624.3234

Simone Leid - The WomenSpeak Project

Learn more about the WomenSpeak Project’s Mission and Objectives here http://womenspeak.tumblr.com/tagged/Mission
and here http://womenspeak.tumblr.com/tagged/objectives

State of Emergency Update Trinidad & Tobago

2011-09-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

State of Emergency in Trinidad & Tobago Update

OPERATIONAL UPDATE - 2011.09.01.

Port of Spain. Over the last 24 hours, a total of one hundred and sixty seven persons [167] were arrested. Of the total arrests within the 24 hour period, twenty seven [27] were gang related, one [1] homicide, thirty five [35] drug related, two [2] persons were arrested for firearm related charges, fifty nine [59] persons were arrested for outstanding warrants, five [5] were arrested for breach of curfew, twenty two [22] were arrested for traffic offences, with ninety six [96] tickets issued and thirteen [13] persons were arrested for other serious offences. Three [3] others were arrested for other offences. One firearm and fifteen rounds of ammunition were also seized.

To date, a total of one thousand, one hundred and forty three [1143] persons have been arrested, with three hundred and sixty six [366] arrests related to gangs, two hundred and sixteen [216] related to drug offences, two hundred and twenty eight [228] related to outstanding warrants, one hundred and eighty one [181] related to other serious offences, eighty two [82] related to breach of curfew, and thirty [30] related to homicide.

Additionally, the Coast Guard acting on intelligence seized a vessel with two (2) male Trinidadians along with two (2) male Jamaicans and confiscated a quantity of cocaine with a street value of $3.2 million dollars on board the vessel.

Issued by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Communications
State of Emergency [SOE] Communications

Of course there's much more going on as well and we will know later today whether or not the curfew times have been changed.

This came about not just because of a much needed major crackdown on crime and the drug shipments coming into and through this country but because a plan to assassinate the Prime Minister and the Attorney General was uncovered.

State of Emergency in Trinidad & Tobago. Day 3

2011-08-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

I just cannot share my feelings on this at the moment as there are so many unanswered questions.

These are some of the rules and regulations during a State of Emergency:

The State of Emergency grants special powers to the police and military:
Search and seizure powers will not require a search warrant;
Military to have power to arrest and detain before transfer to the police;
Police can arrest and detain for up to 24 hours after which a magistrate, or assistant superintendent (or higher), will be able to add an extra 7 days;
No bail for those arrested during the State of Emergency;
Courts no longer will have the power to grant bail.

It is strongly advised you to respect the curfew in the affected areas and to comply with directives issued by the Government of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, military and police units.. Travel times might be affected by these measures, so ensure you have sufficient time to reach your destination before curfew

This is the advisory from the British High Commission.

On 21 August 2011, a Limited State of Emergency was called into effect by the Prime Minister. There is a curfew in place for designated "hotspots" in Trinidad from 21:00 to 05:00 local time. Although the State of Emergency extends to Tobago, the island has no designated "hotspots" and is not affected by the curfew. We strongly advise you to respect the curfew in the affected areas and to comply with directives issued by the Government of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, military and police units.

You should be aware that there are high levels of violent crime, especially shootings and kidnappings. British nationals have been victims of violent attacks, particularly in Tobago where law enforcement is weak.

38 British nationals required consular assistance in Trinidad and Tobago in the period April 2010 - March 2011.

Believe me, living in the tropics, is not all it's cracked up to be!

State of Emergency

2011-08-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

A limited State of Emergency has been put into place in this twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. I don't have time to write about it now but this is how CNN reported it. They say a 'partial state of emergency' when in effect, the whole island is being shut down..

Authorities impose curfews on Trinidad and Tobago

By the CNN Wire Staff

August 22, 2011 -- Updated 1630 GMT (0030 HKT)

Port Of Spain, Trinidad (CNN) -- A partial state of emergency was imposed Monday on crime hotspots across Trinidad and Tobago, and the government said it will enforce curfews in certain areas to curb the spiraling rate of drug-related murders in the Caribbean islands.

This weekend alone, 11 people were fatally shot, bringing the total for the year so far to 264, authorities said.

Speaking to the media, Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar, who took office 16 months ago said her national security advisers believe the discovery and seizure of large amounts of cocaine this past week may be responsible for the untenable situation.

She said, "We will search them out and bring them to swift justice," noting that her government will not allow a handful of thugs to hold ransom the majority of law abiding citizens of Trinidad and Tobago which celebrates its 49th year of independence on August 31

Journalist Gideon Hanoomansingh contributed to this

London Burning

2011-08-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

London Burning

I posted this on Bee's Blog whereas really it should be here on Bee Up Front and Serious but I doubt that anyone will read it here. Maybe no one will read it over there either but I need to get this out of my system.

Last week was a terrible time in my homeland and although I wasn't there I followed the events on the news stations and in the British press. I called friends to ensure they were safe but their reassurances did not calm my turmoil. My stomach has now stopped churning and I'm a little less disturbed than I was a few days ago. Funny how one may be away from what's going on but still be affected by it.

The entire episode has made me very, very angry. angry for many reasons but most of all, angry at the total breakdown of a society and the lawlessness which those with an ounce of integrity, should have seen coming.

I am sick to death of hearing about Human Rights. Sick to death of hearing the excuses being given for the torching, rioting and looting that went on in London, its environs and other cities last week. There are no excuses. I don't care whether you are black, white, pink, yellow, jobless, disenfranchised, from a one parent family, a drop out, a primary school teacher, mentally or physically challenged, a casualty of the last Labour Government or of the fifteen month old Conservative government. I am sick to death of hearing that it's a 'culture thing', of whites trying to be black, of music and television being a major influential in the lives of our young people.

Tell me, how can anyone condone the words of a 17year old girl, drinking her looted wine from a bottle, telling the BBC interviewer that they were doing this to get at the rich and to let the police know that they can do anything they want?

I have always said that discipline starts in the home. Children need boundaries and they need to be taught right from wrong. Whilst there were some things that I would not have put my head on a block for in favour of my children as they were growing up, I certainly would put my head on a block for both of them where the events of last week are concerned. I know that they would never have entered into such mayhem. How to I know? Because from very early o'clock they were taught right from wrong and that one has to be accountable for things unacceptable to society. You do the crime, you pay the time. I am sick of hearing parents say that they are not responsible for the behaviour of their children as one woman said yesterday after her son was caught on camera and has been charged. She now faces possible eviction from her government apartment because of a 1985 law which in a nutshell, stipulates that anyone with a history of criminality, or by association (i.e. family member) is not entitled to live in a state owned property. I understand fully that she was not the one who looted, was caught and charged and possibly faces a prison sentence but I have a problem when she hits the national media saying that her human rights are being violated.

Maybe now is the time to make an example of people. Maybe now is the time for people to take back their country - from the thugs, the hooligans, from every Tom. Dick and Harry who decides to land on Britain's shores and use it as a bolt hole. Maybe now is the time to become more discerning where social welfare is concerned and maybe now is the time to stop handing everything to people, on a plate. Maybe now is the time to institute a system as near as dammit it to compulsory National Service, to hold parents accountable for the children's misbehaviour, to bring back Teachers Training Colleges, to put Heads instead of principals back into schools, to put morning assemblies with prayers back into schools, to put Matrons back into hospitals, to put pride back into a country where every Briton no matter where they originated from, can live in peace and harmony knowing they are safe.

I am sharing here photos of the London Daily Mail which show the less hostile events of last week.

Photographs taken from the London Mail

Could you sleep easy knowing that your child, husband or any relative had taken part in this? One mother who saw her daughter who had excelled at school, who held various athletic records, had modelled and was to be an Ambassador at the London Olympics 2012, on television committing the crime of looting, turned her in saying that she didn't love her any less, that it was a hard decision but it was the right one to make.

I only hope that when David Cameron said the following today, he meant it.:

'Tear up the sentencing guidelines and jail EVERY looter'

Two thirds of 1,179 defendants remanded in custody

Emancipation Day 2011 Trinidad & Tobago

2011-07-31T18:59:00.000-07:00

Emancipation Day 2011

Tomorrow, 1 August is Emancipation Day in Trinidad and Tobago. On 1 August 1985 Trinidad and Tobago became the first country in the world to declare a national holiday to commemorate the abolition of slavery. I am not going to go into all the political 'hoo hah', the in-fighting and the various arguments that go on in this country whenever national events such as this one happens. I am however going to share a little of black history for those who may be interested in what I would describe as the worst kind of exploitation that has ever taken place. I have researched various historical documents on this subject so acknowledgment is due to their authors.

Captured Slaves

The history of the New World since Columbus re-discovered it, is one of conquest, pillage, exploitation and forced migration of people.

The Triangular Trade

Slavery existed in Africa before the arrival of the Europeans. However they were treated much more kindly than they would come to be treated by the Europeans. Slavery in many African societies was a temporary state, usually occurring as punishment for a crime or to pay off a debt. With the arrival of Europeans however, the face of slavery was changed forever. Slavery became an organized business. English slave ships would arrive on the West coast of Africa with a cargo of guns, alcohol, goods, beads and trinkets. These would be traded with the Africans in exchange for slaves. To assure a steady supply of slaves for the colonies, African tribes were encouraged by the Europeans to raid other tribes and capture their people. These captives would be bound in iron neck rings and linked together with chains and forced to march to the coast, where they would be housed in barracoons (holding pens) in unhealthy conditions, until a slave ship arrived. The captain of the slave ship would then choose the slaves he wanted and exchange them for the goods he had brought. Usually young, strong healthy slaves were selected, and more men than women were chosen. The slave captain would then sail with his human cargo across the Atlantic to the colonies in North America and the Caribbean. This three-step process in the slave trade – slave ships sailing from Europe to Africa and then to the Caribbean – was called the Triangular Trade. The trip from Europe to Africa was called the Outward Passage, the trip from Africa to the Americas was called the Middle Passage and the trip from the Americas to Europe in which cargoes of rum, sugar, tobacco and other produce bought with the proceeds of slave sales were shipped was called The Inward Passage.

The Middle Passage

The Middle Passage was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of people from Africa were taken to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade. The Middle Passage was a horrendous ordeal for the Africans.

Men were crammed below decks in handcuffs and leg irons. Women and children were not chained and were housed in separate quarters from the men. All however, were treated with brutality. Slave captains packed the ships to capacity with human cargo. The journey lasted anywhere from six weeks to three months depending on the weather and the distance to be covered. In good weather slaves were allowed on deck twice a day for exercise. Below deck living conditions were appalling. There were no washroom facilities and slaves had to relieve themselves were they were. Many suffered from seasickness, dysentery and small pox. By the time they reached their destination many were ill and weak, and some died on board. In addition to the appalling physical conditions, there was also the mental stress. Many Africans became despondent and threw themselves overboard. Those who were rescued were beaten for trying to escape.

For more than three centuries millions of people were forcibly transported from their homes in Africa, across the perilous Atlantic Ocean to the New World, where they were forced to labour on sugar plantations for the rest of their lives. This enslavement of a people continued until events in Europe changed the fortunes of the West Indian and North American colonies. Humanitarians started questioning the validity of slavery, there was competition from beet sugar producers in Europe, and the advent of the Industrial Revolution spawned the rise of a new group of influential men in the British Parliament who believed that slavery was no longer economically viable.

From 1770s onward, several influential pressure groups arose in England and France calling for an end to the slave trade and slavery. They became known as abolitionists. These abolitionists were religious humanitarians (Quakers, Methodists, Evangelical Anglicans, Baptists and Moravians), intellectuals, workers and a few former slaves. They mobilised popular opinion, using mass meetings and petitions. The most notable of the abolitionists were Granville Sharp, William Wilberforce, John Wesley and Thomas Buxton. In addition to the abolitionists, an economist Adam Smith argued that free labour was cheaper than slave labour which he showed to be uneconomic.

In France and England the ideas of the Enlightenment and the French and American Revolutions also helped to fuel the demands to end slavery.There was of course fierce opposition to the abolitionists. British planters, ship owners, merchants and bankers were in favour of continuing slavery. Their argument was that slavery was economically essential to Britain and her colonies.

Over time the abolitionists’ campaign gained momentum. William Wilberforce made several attempts to introduce a bill in parliament outlawing the slave trade. Finally in 1807 the Abolition Act was passed abolishing the slave trade. The law became operational on 1 January 1808. The abolitionists hoped that by ending the slave trade no more slaves would be coming from Africa and therefore slavery would gradually come to an end, but this was not the case. The planters continued to use slave labour on their estates.

When it became apparent that slavery was not going to end, the abolitionists tried another strategy that was meant to make the life of the slaves less unbearable. It was called the Amelioration policy. Under this policy or law, female slaves were not to be flogged and slaves were not allowed to work on Sundays. Slaves were also to be allowed to give evidence in court as long as a Christian minister could vouch for the slave's understanding of what an oath meant. The Amerilioration laws met with a lot of opposition, and when it became obvious that they would not be enforced, the abolitionists decided to try for the abolition of slavery. It took another twenty seven years after the abolition of the slave trade, before slavery itself was abolished.

In 1833 Thomas Buxton presented The Emancipation Bill in the British Parliament. The Act was passed and came into effect on 1 August 1834. On that day, thousands of slaves in the British West Indies became free men and women.

How the declaration was published in Britain

Guardian UK

Throughout the British dominions the sun no longer rises on the slave. Yesterday was the day from which the emancipation of all our slave population commences: and we trust the great change by which they are elevated to the rank of freeman will be found to have passed into effect in the manner most accordant with the benevolent spirit in which it was decreed, most consistent with the interests of those who benefit it was primarily intended, and most calculated to put an end to the apprehensions under which it was hardly to be expected that the planters could fail to labour as the moment of its consummation approaches. we shall await anxiously the arrivals from the West Indies that will bring advices to a date subsequent to the present time.

It's not a very pretty picture is it?

Lest We Forget

2010-11-07T02:48:00.000-08:00

In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Being an army brat, I have attended many, many Remembrance Sunday Parades in several countries on various camps. My father was always on parade. I am always struck by that two minute silence because no matter what or where, the traffic and throngs always come comes to a complete standstill. The eeriness, especially on a cold, English November morning, makes it always seems to me, that the entire world has stopped.

Old soldiers never die
They simply fade they say
Is that the price I ask myself
That soldiers have to pay?

Bugle notes and drum beat
Flash of sun on brass
He hears the call as comrades all
Tramp the long march past

Warriors fading quickly
Like a weak pale winter sun
Bowed and creeping slowly
Life's race is all but run

The red poppy leaves are wrinkled
One by one they fall
Soldier, can you answer still
When the bugle notes do call

Play the music gently
No harsh notes sound, I ask
For the poppy leaves are falling
Glory days now past

LONDON, UK THIS MORNING - 7 NOVEMBER 2010

In memory: The Queen lays a wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday

The Cenotaph in London's Whitehall where thousands of veterans marched past the memorial

Let us never forget
and
let us educate our children so that they know never to forget

What Would Yo Do?

2010-10-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

Everyone should see this.

Pope Visits Britain

2010-09-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

Something else to ponder as opposed to burning of religious books, whether or not the burkah should be banned, whether or not a Muslim Recreation Centre (it's not a mosque!) should be built near Ground Zero:

POPE'S UK VISIT: Benedict defends Christmas and warns religion must not be sidelined in Parliament http:// www.dailymail.co.uk

Sep 18, '10 2:18 PM
by Bee for everyone

In Trinidad, "Massa Day Not Done".

2009-10-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

The above was the front page of yesterday's Trinidad Express, one of three daily national newspapers.

On Tuesday morning, there was an almighty pile up on the highway going from south to north. The traffic is always heavy on this road so anyone leaving home in south to be at work for 8.00am should leave by 5.00am. Three hours to cover approximately thirty five miles of highway! Of course, the alternative from San Fernando to Port of Spain, is the 'water taxi' but not a great many people trust that completely as it has only been in existence since the beginning of the year and has been known to konk out mid-ocean.

Tuesday morning. Announcements being made on local radio stations that the traffic was backed up for miles and it appeared that several buses and maxi taxis were parked on the hard shoulder. Their occupants had alighted and were sitting on the grass at the side of the highway. The occupants it appeared, were Chinese nationals. It was assumed that one of the vehicles had broken down. Not so! As events unfolded and the traffic was now backed up, bumper to bumper for the best part of twenty miles, it transpired that the workers were staging a 'sit in'. Now very strange things happen in Trinidad but I don't think that there has ever been a demonstration by imported workers. Traffic had come to a stand still not because of an accident but because Trinidadians are macocious (minding other peoples' business) and were stopping to gawk.

Yesterday's newspapers revealed that about eighty five Chinese nationals haven't been paid in months, are eating "dry bread", cannot speak a word of English and would rather return to the crowded streets of Fujian Province than stay to work as labourers in Trinidad. However, they want the money that they claim is owed to them before they leave. So what better way to bring their plight to the notice of the powers-that-be? Bring traffic on a major route to a standstill. I have no problem with the silent demonstration at all because I am aware of just how these people are being treated.

Naturally police (wearing riot gear!) were called to rein them in and escort them from the highway to the administrative branch of the Immigration Department in the capital. Once at Immigration the Chinese workers adamantly refused to be sent back to work and also refused to return to where they were being housed in Central Trinidad.

Some indicated by sign language that they were hungry and patted their pockets as if to illustrate that they were empty. Others took empty water bottles onto the Immigration compound, gesticulating that they were in need of water.

While most could only speak their native language, Mandarin Chinese, the few who did know some English told the media they had come here from the Fujian Province in China about 18 months ago "to make money for family", and were ready to go back home because they had not been paid for several months. They used sign language and gestures to show they were ready to "fly" and be on "a plane to China". They also showed a handwritten letter in English, explaining their plight and asking the Government to intervene, but could not say who had written the letter for them. One of the workers said they were each owed 30,000 yuan (approx USD3,666) for two months of work.

Many citizens who gathered in front the Immigration office expressed concern and sympathy for the men, many of whom they said "looked afraid".

"They have a unique job and they work hard and fast. Unlike most of us they are productive," said one local Chinese man who was passing by. The man said he was not affiliated with the workers in any way but had observed the conditions under which they live in Trinidad at various compounds and felt they were being treated unfairly.

After several hours an official came from the local Embassy of the People's Republic of China after which Embassy officials said they could not decide who was right in the dispute but were only present to ensure that the rights of all their nationals are protected. When the media tried to find out where the men were going for the night, one could only say in broken English, "We do not have idea." However, the group maintained they were not going back to work or to the compound where they are being housed.

This morning the Chinese workers are protesting their alleged mistreatment by Beijing Liujian Construction, the company contracted to work in Trinidad.

Can you imagine people wanting to return to a country that is not known in a positive light for its stance on human rights rather than remain in a so called Democracy?? These people are being made to live in containers - yes containers, with no proper facilities. Shower rooms and toilets are scarce making hygiene non-existent, cooking facilities are makeshift, sleeping arrangements are on the floors and rats think they have died and gone to heaven. Then the government which awarded the contract to the Chinese company expect these people to work eighteen hours a day. Where's the humanity in all this?

Slave trade is alive and well in Trinidad and don't ever let anyone tell you that the words "Massa Day Done" (Public Lecture at Woodford Square, 22 March 1961) said by the very late Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Eric Williams, are true.

Give a man power and he will crucify his very own!

Money Done!

2009-09-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

I received the letter below from a friend who is standing for the comparatively newly formed party COP (Congress of the People), this morning.

My adopted country is in a mess and I weep for our children, the poor who are getting poorer, the homeless, the lack of decent health facilities, the waste of money, the crime rate to name but a few of the many things that are very, very wrong.

In typical third world fashion, the Prime Minister wants to change the Constitution obviously with the ulterior motive of making himself Executive President for life.

We have just had a Budget.

“Trinidad and Tobago's Minister of Finance Karen Nunez-Tesheira expects this country's 11.9% inflation to increase further. While delivering her maiden National Budget speech at the Red House in Port of Spain, she also said the Ministry expects the price of oil to fall further. She reported that the government-owned Trinidad Hyatt Regency expects to turn a profit ahead of schedule in 2009. She hinted during her speech that Government wanted to collect more from non-energy businesses.” (Source: Trinidad and Tobago News Blog)

There is to be a property tax reform. One of the comments I have picked up is:

Property tax plan unfair
“This is not about reform or equity. It is simply additional taxation in deficit budgeting brought on by squandermania in a time of plenty. If you fail to pay, Government will simply seize your property.”

In the following letter you will see a reference to “hartless”. Calder Hart, a Canadian, heads UDecott (Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago which is the centre of an ‘on hold’ Commission of Enquiry because there are allegations of corruption, nepotism and the like within the company.

Dear All,

As you may be aware we have issued a National Call to Wear Black on Friday as a protest against Govt squandermania and the fact that they wish to tax the people to pay for their deficit and "hartless (or ful) projects...
I would like to invite all of the national executive and all chairmen and activists to mobilise supporters and friends to wear BLACK on Friday and to Attend a Street Talk at the San Juan Market on Saturday at 10 am sharp wearing BLACK (does not have to be a COP jersey).
This crucial ground assault will be maintained over the next few weeks, with Chaguanas market and San Fernando market following San Juan Saturday. The idea is to actively recruit members of the public and follow up with them.
This exercise is intended to be reviewed and already I have noticed great deficiencies in our ability to mass mobilise on short notice and the use of multiple avenues of communication. Luckily, I would submit a document following this exercise to the natex to consider.
I trust you would come out and bring out numbers for these events. We need to show strength on the ground at these busy public places. I make a special plea to members of the national executive to attend.
Don't forget to wear BLACK on Friday and Saturday.

Navi

Dr. Navi Muradali

The top and bottom of it? As they say here, 'Money done!’

An Upside Down World

2009-08-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

At 7.00am this morning I had half an ear on the BBC World News as I was flitting from room to room, preparing for my day. I heard that South Korea had launched its first rocket from its own territory into space whilst I was in dreamland. The rocket, built with help from Russia was carrying a domestically built satellite aimed at observing the atmosphere and ocean. So dem say!

"Oh well" I thought, "what an extraordinary waste of money".

The next news item really caught my attention. Giant herd flees Kenya drought.

According to UN agricultural chiefs, a massive herd of cattle which numbers over 200,000 has fled northern Kenya into the Borena zone in Ethiopia to escape a drought. Migration apparently is normal but this is the largest number in over ten years. Added to that farmers are abandoning their villages in search of water.

Kenya's drought has hit the country's capacity to generate hydro-electricity and last week electricity rationing was introduced. Last January President Kibaki said that 10 million Kenyans were facing starvation. Today it was reported that school holidays have been cancelled so that children can go to school and receive at least one decent meal a day. Stocks of oil, rice and other basics are kept in some school areas and children are known to take their meal home to share with the family. A report says that there are enough stocks to last for approximately two months. What then?

Somalia.

More than half the Somali population is in need of humanitarian aid. Conditions in that country have been deteriorating rapidly since the beginning of the year. One in five children are acutely malnourished.

I remember well my mother telling me when I refused to eat something on my plate, that there were starving children in the world and I would think to myself that leaving my food was not going to help them even if I made a food parcel of it. Years later, I told my children the same thing and I suppose they too had their silent thoughts relating to my remarks and the food on their plates. I am fully aware that remarks such as those made to force children into guilt eating is not a good idea and has absolutely no effect on the needs of starving populations, worldwide.

I know governments are to blame for mismanaging their countries. I see it here in this country. I see the ever widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. There are starving families in this oil and gas rich country. Granted most have access to water but not all homes have pipe borne water. In this country which hosted the Fifth Summit of the Americas, people still bathe themselves at stand pipes on the side of the road.

My point?

We are living in an upside-down-world. We are doing nothing or very little to improve the lots
of the starving. Mia Farrow's hunger strike to bring attention to the starving in Darfur does not count.

I am appalled that in this day and age when countries in the Western Hemisphere are promising aid to populations in need as a result of bad governance, that a country has spent four hundred and two million US dollars on a rocket in an ambitious bid to jump-start its space programme. Not only that - it failed yet again. It did not reach proper orbit. What a total waste of money.

Just think what the people of Kenya and Somalia could do with half of four hundred and two million.

The Right to Die

2009-07-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

In recent months, on several occasions, Dignatis a clinic in Zurich, Switzerland has been very much in the news. Some say Dignitas is the name of the clinic; Wikipedia says that “Dignitas is a Swiss assisted suicide (euthanasia) group that helps those with terminal illness and severe physical and mental illnesses to die assisted by qualified doctors and nurses.”
More and more terminally ill people from the UK and no doubt other countries where assisted suicide is against the law, are making their way to the clinic to put and end to their lives.
In early July Dignatis hit the headlines once again when it was revealed that one of Britain’s most respected musicians, orchestral conductor Sir Edward Downes and his wife Joan had ended their lives within its walls whilst their children sat with them. Lady Joan Downes a former ballet dancer and a choreographer had terminal cancer of the liver and pancreas. Her husband, eleven years older at eighty five was virtually blind and had become increasingly deaf. By all accounts he relied on his wife totally and according to their son, would never have been able to cope with life without his wife who had only a matter of weeks to live. So rather than hang on and wait for his time to come, the man who had been principal conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and who had conducted for more than fifty years at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London made the decision to travel from the UK and end his life with a lethal concoction of barbiturate poisons whilst his wife did the same. They drank a clear liquid, lay down on beds next to each other and held hands across the space between them. Within minutes they were asleep and ten minutes later, they were both dead. So ended a love story that had lasted for fifty four years. The couple lived in my village: Blackheath Village in south east London. A beautiful village approximately six miles from central London.
Scotland Yard had said it will investigate the deaths . Assisting suicide is an offence in the UK that can carry a fourteen year prison sentence. Among the growing number of non-Swiss, known according to Time.com as “death tourists” who go to Zurich to end their lives are more than one hundred Britons . No move has been made by the UK authorities to prosecute family and friends who helped them. There have been several high profile cases.
There is of course, a great deal of controversy surrounding this clinic but it isn’t breaking any laws. Switzerland has some of the world’s most liberal statutes on assisted suicide: a doctor may provide a lethal dose of drugs to a terminally ill person if they feel there is absolutely no hope of recovery and that the patient is capable of making a sound decision to die. The patient administers the drug him/herself. Euthanasia, whereby the doctor administers the drug, is illegal.
It is said that Dignatis has strict rules. It is not just a case of being able to go there and end it all. According to the staff there is a detailed procedure in place which ensures that the ‘patient’ knows what they are doing and that this is what they really want. Family members are encouraged to be present when their loved ones pass away.
There is the question of finance. A nurse who is now an ex employee of Dignatis accused the organization of being ‘a production line of death concerned only with profits’. I read somewhere that an assisted suicide costs £4,000.00 but rockets to £7.000.00 if Dignatis arranges the funeral. It is also alleged that some of the deaths are not always peaceful. Peter Auhagen a German national suffered a gruesome seventy hour death and his demise almost brought the founder of the clinic to trial. Auhagen’s death was the subject of a German TV documentary. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1127413/Cashing-despair-Suicide-clinic-Dignitas-profit-obsessed-killing-machine-claims-ex-worker.html#ixzz0LvpFbPMb).

There are of course two schools of thought as what may be termed as ‘the sanctity of life’. Very much against assisted suicide is Pro Life Alliance whose chairwoman has said. “Britain is a world leader in palliative care doctors. I am sure Lord and Lady Downes could have lived out their lives happily”. Bel Mooney asks in a recent article “how can this woman (my words) define happiness for the sick and the dying?” The other school of thought is the charity, Dignity in Dying formerly known as Exit and before that, the National Euthanasia Society. Their motto is ‘Your Life, your Choice’.

Where do you draw the line? Who decides if enough is enough if the terminally ill person is not able to make a sound judgment? Dignity in Dying is all too aware of these questions. A devoted child wanting to see the end of suffering for a parent in pain calling for help or the unthinkable motives that may lie in the thoughts of uncaring relatives? The vulnerable have to be protected according to Bel Mooney and society must be aware of how the sick and the elderly are being cared for.

Two weeks ago the House of Lords in England defeated an attempt by Lord Falconer to make the Coroner’s and Justice Bill less punitive on those accompanying a loved one abroad to die. Hw wanted to dismiss the threat of prosecution of relatives who help the terminally ill who go to die in a country where euthanasia is not against the law. The Peers voted 194 – 141 to reject any reform of the Bill that would have made it legal for families to help Dignatis suicides in regulated circumstances. Dr Peter Saunders of “Care not Killing” agrees with the decision citing amongst other reasons, the deterrence of would-be abusers.

My belief tells me that life is sacred. It teaches me that I have no right to take my own or anyone else’s life under any circumstances. I nursed my dying mother and at no point did I have an overwhelming desire to put a pillow over her face but then again, although desperately ill with no hope of recovery, not once did she scream out in pain. Not once did she beg to be relieved of her agony and distress. Yes there were times during her six month illness when she shouted at me, when she accused me of not caring after I had spent night after sleepless night sitting with her, calming her, feeding her, bathing her, praying with her. I was inconsolable when she said terrible things to me. There were times which I now deeply regret when I lost patience , when I wasn’t as kind as I could have been, when the pressure and stress of seeing my beautiful mother so helpless got to me, when I argued with God. But through it all, it never entered my head that I should ‘put her out of her misery’. Had she asked me to help her to die which thankfully she never did, much as I loved and adored her I would have had to say ‘no’. Not because I was afraid of what would happen to me in the event that I might be found out by the authorities but because I live by the code that “God gives life and only God can take it away as and when He chooses”.

But I struggle. I really, really struggle.

I have never been faced with the horrendous circumstance whereby a child of mine has found herself pregnant as the result of a rape. I believe that life starts at the moment of conception but what would my reaction be to a pregnancy that came about through a violent act? My belief tells me that I would have to accept it and deal with the outcome later. But my mind tells me ‘immediate termination’. So if I am really honest, I have to ask myself the question that if I could even consider a termination in dire circumstances, how could I refuse a person in so much pain who is asking to be released. We can say so much. We can agree. We can disagree but who knows what we would do if ever faced with having to make those kinds of decisions? Who knows what we would do in the name of love?

Please God, don’t ever allow me to be in the position where I have to make those choices and let me not judge anyone who has already been there.

Two Hundred & Seventy Murders for the Year

2009-06-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday saw the 270th murder for the year in this small twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. That doesn't include the overnight ones that haven't hit the news yet.

This country is in crisis whilst the government sits idly by seeing who can put what into their pockets, continues to build a smelter plant even though a judgement was handed down last week putting a halt to it, turns a deaf ear to the accusations of corruption, turns a blind eye to rising costs, inflation and poverty, imports foreign labour whilst nationals remain unemployed, oversees a defunct health service and continues to employ an Attorney General whose resignation the Law Association is demanding and a Minister of Finance who as a client of a major financial entity had inside information as to its impending doom and removed millions of personal dollars before its downfall.

This is a country which the Prime Minister is attempting to bring out of third world status by the year 2020. The project is called "Vision 20/20". A blind man can see it is never going to happen.

So sad. A country with massive wealth, abundant natural resources and a multi-cultural society that Bishop Desmond Tutu once dubbed 'a rainbow country' is in decline. Oh there's money - plenty of money, but there has been a complete breakdown of discipline and lawlessness abounds. There is a total lack of respect for life, crime is rampant and whilst the country burns, the Prime Minister and his government are fiddling in tandem.

What they Can Claim

2009-06-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

I write this because I now read that the British government is to give out 220,000 British passports to migrants this year. In the first three months of 2009, 54,615 citizenship applications were approved, up 57% for the same period last year.

At that rate, the number receiving passports - and with them the right to full benefits - this year will smash the record of 164,540 set in 2007.

Last year the total was 129,310, and when Labour came to power in 1997, just 37,010 people were given citizenship. It means approvals have rocketed by almost 500 per cent under the current Government.

I have no problem with immigrants although I wonder where they are going to put them all as GB is after all an island and there is only so much room.

I am British and can trace my lineage back a couple of hundred years on my military father’s English side. My Austrian mother automatically became British upon marriage because that is what happened when a Brit married ‘an alien’ at the end of WW11. Although born in Austria, I was born so to speak, ‘under the British Flag’ because Austria was ‘occupied’. I have and always have had a British passport. Both my children were born in Britain and carry British passports. It just so happened that I married a Trinidadian who did not want a British passport (he got that right!). We lived between West Africa and London and my husband had UK residency because the American company he worked for, had offices in the UK as well as virtually every other country in the world. We owned two homes, the children went to British schools and we paid our British taxes.

I am cross because my British daughter is not entitled to a British university education because through no fault of her own, she has lived outside of the United Kingdom for more than three years. In short she would be treated as an 'overseas student' instead of a 'home student' which in her case would mean a difference in fees of approximately GBP13,000 - 16,000. Add to that living accommodation, learning resources, food etc... etc...

My daughter, undeterred is doing her Law Degree at The University of London through an external programme. It is still expensive but nothing like the fees we would have to pay if she were living in London.

Better we give up our heritage, our British passports, claim political asylum in the UK and go with the flow.

My father who fought for King and country and then Queen and country must be spinning in his grave whilst I spit blood and wonder at how this Labour government managed to turn a once great country into the laughing stock of the world.